Malaysia and Taiwan have always enjoy friendly and substantive relations, particularly in the areas of trade, investment and other economic areas as well as in social and cultural fields including close people-to-people relations.
Abdul Rahim Bakri, President of Malaysian Friendship and Trade Centre (MFTC) remarked, "Our economic ties have gone a long way back and Taiwan has always been one of Malaysia's important trading partners."
"Both our economies are relatively free and similarly based on capitalistic model and coupled with our similar Asian background, there are hardly any cultural or language barriers that stand in the way in our trade and economic relationship. Thus, our bilateral trade and economic relationship can be described as strong and resilient and notwithstanding that, I believe that there is still potential for further expansion of the relationship," said Abdul Rahim Bakri.
For the whole year of 2001, Malaysia's two-way trade with Taiwan, for the first time, experienced a negative growth. However, this was not only experienced by Malaysia but also by most of Taiwan's trading partners due to the combination of factors including a general slowdown in the world economy, the September 11 attacks in the US, and a series of riveting typhoons hitting Taiwan that had impacted negatively on overall Taiwan's economy.
Next month will be a busy month for the MTFC. The Trade Division together with the Investment Division of the Centre are now busily preparing to receive a Malaysian Trade and Investment Mission to Taiwan headed by the Hon. Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry of Malaysia.
The mission will comprise business leaders from various industry sectors who will seek to foster bilateral trade and investment for both countries. The main program for the mission will be a seminar presentation on Malaysian business opportunities which aims to inform and create awareness among Taiwanese business community on Malaysia's trade and investment climate that are conducive as well as business opportunities that may arise for the Taiwan businessman.
There will also be a one-to-one business meetings for both Taiwanese and Malaysian businessmen to discuss JVs or any other businesses. This mission is indeed timely following the recent call by Taiwan's President who urged Taiwanese investors and businessmen to look "south" towards closer economic ties with Southeast Asian countries. Abdul Rahim Bakri said, "We certainly welcome his call and hope that the Taiwan government is serious in promoting the policy."
On the tourism side, Tourism Malaysia is planning "Tourism Roadshow" to be led by the Deputy Minister of Culture, Arts and Tourism that will cover three cities in Taiwan. As usual, the Tourism Division will also participate in the 20th International Travel Fair in Taipei from Nov 23-27 this year.
Taiwan has long been a destination for higher education for more than three decades for Malaysian students especially those who studied in the Chinese high schools in Malaysia. The Federation of Alumni Association of Taiwan Universities in Malaysia boasts of more than 30,000 members and they still maintain close contact with Taiwan. Currently, there are slightly over 3,000 Malaysian students studying in Taiwan's universities, junior colleges and technical institutes. This number is the average intake of Malaysian students studying in Taiwan.
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